Ludwig9 Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Chapter 23 Mongke-Khan, Fourth Ruler of the Tartars In A.D. 1253 when lord Hetum, King of the Armenians, observed that the Tartars had completely subjugated all of the kingdoms, districts and territories up to the realm of the Turks, he consulted with his advisors and resolved to go in person to the King of the Tartars, to more easily obtain his favor and friendship, and to try to arrange a peace treaty with him. But first he sent baron Smbat, Constable of the Armenian kingdom, his brother, to obtain a decree of safe conduct for his journey. Thus Smbat, the King's brother, went to the Tartar Khan [in Karakorum, 1247] to graciously arrange the affairs of his patron. Four years later he returned to the Armenians [1251] to relate what he had seen and heard. Then the King of the Armenians [in 1254] went in secret so that he would not be recognized in the country of the Turks which he had to traverse. And as God willed it, [g44] the Tartar general who had defeated the Sultan of the Turks graciously received the Armenian King and had him conducted as far as the kingdom of [Greater] Armenia and to the Iron Gate. Thence other Tartar commanders accompanied him to Ameghek [Amelic, southeast of Lake Balkash] where Mongke, Khan of the Tatars, resided. Mongke received him honorably [and gave him great gifts and favors, oe37]. Now after some days had passed, the King of the Armenians beseeched the Khan regarding the peace treaty and other matters he desired. With the consent of the Khan, the King of the Armenians put [seven] requests before him. First, he urged the Khan to convert to Christianity and to accept baptism together with his people; second, he requested that eternal peace and friendship be established between them [between the Tartars and the Christians, oe37]; third, that it be possible to construct Christian churches in all of the Tartar countries and that the Armenians be freed from taxes and other burdens [that in all the lands that the Tartars had conquered and would conquer, the Christians--priests, clerks, and all religious persons--should be free of all taxes, oe37]; fourth, that the Holy Land and the Holy Sepulcher be wrested from the Turks [saracens, oe37] and given to the Christians; fifth, that the Caliph in Baghdad, the head of the [Muslim] religion, be done away with [that he would command the Tartars in Turkey to help in the destruction of the city of Baghdad and the Caliph (the chief and teacher of the false faith of Mahmet), oe37]; sixth, that all of the Tartars [stationed close to the realm of Armenia, oe37] come to his aid when requested; seventh, that all of the districts of the land of Armenians which the Turks had conquered be returned to him. [The seventh request was that all the lands that the Saracens had taken that had belonged to the realm of Armenia and had since come into the Tartars' hands, be freely restored to him; and also that all the lands he might conquer from the Saracens he might hold in peace without any dispute from the Tartars. oe37] When the Tartar Khan had consulted with his princes and grandees, he replied to the King of Armenia: "I accept your requests. I shall accept baptism and adopt the Christian religion and show concern that all of my subjects do likewise, without, however, any coercion. Regarding the second request, let there be eternal peace between us, an alliance covering both offensive and [g45] defensive operations. [The second request we will that perpetual peace and love be established among the Christians and the Tartars; but we will that you pledge that the Christians will hold good peace and true love toward us as we shall do toward them. oe38] Similarly we wish that all Christian churches, clergy and laity, enjoy freedom, and that no one harass the Armenians. [And we will that all Christian churches, priests, clerks and all other persons, of whatever persuasion they be, secular or religious persons, shall be free and delivered of all taxes, and also they shall be defended from all manner of hurt both of body and goods. oe38] Were it possible, we should like to revere the Holy Land in person; however, being occupied with other matters, we are sending our brother Hulegu to take it and return the Holy Land to the Christians. As for doing away with the Caliph of Baghdad, we entrust that task to Baiju, commander of the Tartars, and to his people residing in the realm of the Turks and thereabouts. The Tartars shall aid the Armenians in everything, and those lands which belonged to the Armenians should be returned to them without delay. [We shall comand our brother Halcon [Hulegu] to go with you to accomplish this deed, and shall deliver the Holy Land from the Saracens and restore it to the Christians; and we shall send our command to Baiju and to the other Tartars in Turkey and to the others that are in those countries that they shall obey our brother Halcon. And he shall go to take the city of Baghdad, and destroy the Caliph as our mortal enemy. oe38] We command furthermore, as a special favor, that all fortresses and country which we capture should be given to the Armenian King for the defense of the land of Armenia. [We grant with good will that all the lands which the King of Armenia requested should be restored to him and we command our brother Halcon [Hulegu] that he yield to him all the lands that were of his lordship; and moreover we give him all the lands that he may conquer against the Saracens, and of our special favor, we give him all the castles near his land. oe38] http://rbedrosian.com/hetum3.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Accelerated Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 (edited) ....from the above extract one gets the impression that it is the Armenians who are in a strong position to bargain, when in fact the opposite was more likely the case. Edited September 2, 2004 by Accelerated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwig9 Posted September 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 ....from the above extract one gets the impression that it is the Armenians who are in a strong position to bargain, when in fact the opposite was more likely the case. style_images/master/snapback.png I recommend reading the translators preface. http://rbedrosian.com/hetumint.htm who states the historian is accurate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teutonic Knight Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 ....from the above extract one gets the impression that it is the Armenians who are in a strong position to bargain, when in fact the opposite was more likely the case. style_images/master/snapback.png Well the Mongols needed an ally badly. We all know what happened. The Mamelukes massacred the combined forces of Armenians, Mongols and Georgians several times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Accelerated Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 who states the historian is accurate. well, the historian may be accurate on other topics, but this doesnt make sense because his claim would be analogous to modern day Armenia dictating terms of a treaty with Russia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Accelerated Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 We all know what happened. The Mamelukes massacred the combined forces of Armenians, Mongols and Georgians several times. I only know of one time: Ayn Jalut. And that was a small scouting Mongol army defeated by the Mamelukes who turned up in full force. The Mongols left because their Emperor had died and it was their usual succession problems back home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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